NFL Week 5: Five things we liked and didn't like, including Bo Nix stepping up, Rams' big problem

Truly, what on earth were the Cardinals doing Sunday? Arizona's 22-21 loss to the previously winless Tennessee Titans is among the worst losses I've ever seen.

Emari Demercado is the poster boy of the collapse after he dropped the ball before going into the end zone for what would have been a 72-yard touchdown to pad a 21-6 lead in the fourth quarter. It's the second straight week a player has dropped the ball inches short, and if you've read this column before, you know how I feel about this: It's unacceptable, it's inexcusable, and it should never happen. Jonathan Gannon went off on Demercado during the game (and apologized).

Unacceptable and inexcusable also describe the Cardinals' loss as a whole. As Gannon said, it wasn't just one play, even if that one play was really, really bad. Here's what else the Cardinals did in the fourth quarter alone:

• The center bounced a snap off Kyler Murray's facemask. The right guard was standing straight up, trying to signal something, during the snap. This looks straight out of a middle school game.

• Dadrion Taylor-Demerson picked off Cameron Ward ... only to fumble the return and have Tyler Lockett scoop the ball up in the end zone for a touchdown.

• Ward finished the comeback, leading an 11-play, 71-yard drive that finished with Joey Slye's walk-off field goal. Ward threw for 193 yards in the fourth quarter alone, the most by a Tennessee quarterback in a quarter since 2019. He had just 72 passing yards -- and Tennessee's offense looked hopeless -- through the first three quarters.

I couldn't even place the Cardinals in the "didn't like" section, because "didn't like" doesn't even begin to cover it. They just can't get out of their own way. Arizona went 4-13 in Gannon's first year before jumping to 8-9 last year. It invested a ton in its defense this offseason. And yet here the Cardinals are again, 2-3 and looking like the worst team in the NFC West. The jump isn't happening.

For a neutral fan, though, that game was super fun, and plenty more games fit that bill. Let's dive right in.

Five things we liked in Week 5

Bo Nix, Courtland Sutton, Broncos offense come to life

Bo Nix's first four weeks were not great, especially after a promising rookie year. He ranked in the bottom dozen among qualified quarterbacks in yards per attempt (6.3) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (7-4). He had missed on a lot of deep passes. He had been just OK, and when the Broncos trailed 17-3 through three quarters in Philadelphia, he had been worse than that.

Then he came to life: 9-for-10 for 127 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. He went 4-for-4 for 76 yards targeting Courtland Sutton, including this huge third-and-15 conversion.

Sutton was awesome Sunday and has been awesome all season; NFL Next Gen Stats says he caught six of eight targets for 81 yards when defended by Quinyon Mitchell, and Mitchell had never allowed more than two catches or 49 yards to a receiver in a game before.

But I thought this was an underappreciated Nix moment, too:

Already behind the sticks on second and 14, Nix gets a free rusher in his face, does a quick shoulder shimmy and gets the ball to Sutton. One of the biggest knocks on Nix entering the NFL and even entering this year surrounded what he does when he doesn't have quick, easy answers or clean pockets. We saw him excel in this crucial scenario here, too.

Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold go on absolute heaters

Everything about Buccaneers-Seahawks was beautiful, the uniform combination especially so.

Every team has throwbacks. Everyone clamors for more throwbacks. But the Seahawks and the Buccaneers actually nail them. (And how about the throwback logos on the CBS score bug, too?)

Anyway, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield delivered masterpieces in one of the most entertaining games of the year, a 38-35 Tampa Bay triumph. The two combined for 720 yards passing and six passing touchdowns, including ...

Darnold was 9-for-13 for 123 yards, two touchdowns and one interception when pressured. Mayfield was 4-for-4 for 60 yards and a touchdown, resulting in a perfect passer rating. These guys were absolutely balling, and it was an incredibly entertaining back-and-forth affair. We like those.

Bryce Young hangs in there

Bryce Young was firmly on my "didn't like" list early Sunday afternoon, when he had an inexplicable fumble and a bad interception on his first two drives. The Panthers were down 17-0 after losing 42-13 a week before.

Then Young rallied. It started with an exceptional fourth-and-5 conversion in which he escaped the pocket, shook off a defender and found Tetairoa McMillan for a first down on what looked like a doomed play.

This play might have legitimately saved the game. Then he made several plays to win it, including a terrific, anticipatory throw to Jimmy Horn Jr.

There are major, major limitations to Young's game. But he's smart. He's accurate. He's slippery. He can improvise. We saw it on those two plays in particular, and good on him for staying in things after such an awful start.

Trevor Lawrence uses his legs

When Trevor Lawrence stumbled to the ground when an offensive lineman stepped on his foot, it looked like the Jaguars would blow another game in the most Jaguars way possible.

And then he got up and scored one of the wildest touchdowns you'll ever see.

Maybe it's a sign of something bigger. Jacksonville is 4-1 for the first time since 2007. Regardless, seeing Lawrence use his legs -- not just here, but throughout the night -- is really encouraging. He ran 10 times for 54 yards and two touchdowns Monday night, tying his career high for carries and recording his second-most rushing yards in a game.

Lawrence has a 22% scramble rate this season, on track to be the highest of his career. Let's not forget this is a guy who ran for a 67-yard touchdown against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff. He is an excellent athlete. His rushing adds another layer to Jacksonville's offense and can help keep things afloat when his accuracy as a passer is inconsistent.

Commanders get physical

After getting shredded by the Falcons in Week 4, the Commanders defense wasn't off to a much better start against the Chargers. Los Angeles went touchdown-field goal on its first two drives and was moving again when Quan Martin made a big hit on Quentin Johnston to force a fumble.

From that moment forward, Washington outscored Los Angeles 27-0, and that sort of physicality on both sides of the ball was key. Over the Commanders' final six offensive drives, they ran 23 times for 140 yards with a 65% rushing success rate. The league average this year is about 46%. On the defensive side, Washington finished with five sacks for the game, and, after that slow start, allowed just 56 rushing yards on 15 carries by Los Angeles running backs. Fittingly, Washington put the game away with a run-heavy 13-play, 99-yard drive.

"We want that to look like that all the time," coach Dan Quinn said Monday. "And sometimes, like yesterday, I took that play of Quan, he was the one that set it off yesterday. But there is an attitude and a speed that we want to play with. Doesn't mean we're always going to play it perfectly or play it just right but there's an intensity about how we play at when we're at our best."

Five things we didn't like in Week 5

Rams' short-yardage struggles continue

The Rams made a bevy of errors in their loss to the 49ers, but the one that had Sean McVay "sick to his stomach" was his final play call of the night:

Maybe he was upset because Matthew Stafford had been shredding the 49ers all night. Or maybe he was sick to his stomach because the Rams are really struggling in short-yardage situations.

Los Angeles has run 26 plays on third or fourth down with 2 or fewer yards to go. Their 50% first-down rate is tied for 28th in the league.

This didn't just cost the Rams in Week 5. In their Week 3 collapse against the Eagles, the Rams converted just two of nine plays in those situations.

The Jets' constant miscues

If there's a sequence that sums up the Jets' season so far, it came at the end of the first half of their loss to the Cowboys.

With 29 seconds, Dallas was up 17-3 and essentially just trying to get to halftime with a basic handoff to Javonte Williams. Instead, Williams took the ball 66 yards, broke three tackles -- including two by Jets who ran into one another -- to the 1-yard line.

Then, Jake Ferguson got wide, wide open for his second touchdown of the half.

Overall, Dak Prescott went 9-for-11 for 95 yards and four touchdowns on play action. This might be the easiest 26-yard tight end screen touchdown in NFL history.

Where is the defense?!

I anticipated that Aaron Glenn would bring discipline to this team, even if the roster wasn't fully there yet. And discipline isn't just penalties (which the Jets are also awful at). It's eye discipline on play action. Assignment discipline. Tackling discipline. The Jets don't have any of it.

Ravens look like JV vs. varsity

We've dedicated plenty of words to the Ravens' struggles. I wrote about them last week, and Cody Benjamin did the honors this week.

What I was stunned by most in a 44-10 loss to the Texans was just how easy everything looked for a Houston offense that hadn't done anything easily through four weeks. Houston had a 67% passing success rate. For reference, it was their best in a single game since 2019, and they hadn't been above even 50% in a single game this season. Houston also ran for a season-high 167 yards on 5.1 yards per carry.

Baltimore is down a ton of players. Three defenders played every defensive snap. All three were rookies: first-round safety Malaki Starks, fourth-round linebacker Teddye Buchanan and undrafted free agent safety Reuben Lowery III. Undrafted rookie cornerback Keyon Martin played 70% of the snaps. The Ravens are really scraping the bottom of the barrel, and it looked that way in every aspect.

Unfortunately for them, excuses don't matter.

"We have to get our shit together," Kyle Van Noy said. "Just being brutally honest. Coaches can give us the plays, but we gotta execute, and it doesn't matter who you are in there. Do your job."

Did Eagles forget about Saquon Barkley? Why offensive frustrations could be extending to star RB

Jeff Kerr

Where is Saquon Barkley?

The Eagles are a bit all over the place right now, which is a strange thing to say about a reigning Super Bowl champion that's 4-1. But it's true. In Week 4 against the Buccaneers, Jalen Hurts did not complete a pass in the second half. In Week 5 against the Broncos, Saquon Barkley saw exactly one carry in the second half as Philadelphia's offense completely collapsed.

It's hard to know what this offense is, exactly. There are stars on the outside in DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, but they're reportedly unhappy with their roles on the offense. Barkley, the game's ultimate closer, getting one second-half rush in a game the Eagles led 17-3 late is downright odd. Not everyone can be happy all the time. Right now, it seems like nobody is.

The Eagles rank 30th in passing yards and 24th in yards per attempt. But they also rank 29th in yards per carry. Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has his work cut out for him; there's too much talent for the offense to look like this.

Tough week for star quarterbacks

According to CBS Sports researcher Doug Clawson, this is the first time Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Hurts all lost in the same week as NFL starters.